Capsule Art Reviews: "A Room of Her Own", "Carlos Cruz-Diez: Crosswalk", "Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil", Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation III), "Hypnopomp: Britt Ragsdale", "Tierney Malone: Third Ward Is My Harlem"

Comments (0) By Kelly Klaasmeyer and Troy Schulze Wednesday, Dec 16 2009

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"Tierney Malone: Third Ward Is My Harlem" When you enter DiverseWorks' main gallery and look to the left, a mural spans the entire wall. One of the first words you read is "Tierney," but before you assume it's a reference to Tierney Malone, the artist who directed the creation of the mural and whose paintings wrap around the gallery, you do a double-take. It's a reference to Gene Tierney the actress, since the huge panel is a kind of zoomed-in look at the movie poster for Laura, Otto Preminger's atmospheric 1944 film noir. Malone is a lover of movies and music, and his work echoes the flickery, fleeting feeling that both of those mediums convey. But Malone is less concerned with imagery; he's fascinated by text. "Third Ward Is My Harlem" is Malone's homage to the "catz" who inspired him during the late '80s and '90s when he immersed himself in the Third Ward artist community, as well as the music and art he discovered during that time. His collage paintings utilize text from record album covers, corn bread boxes and just about anything that piques his interest, generating nonlinear narratives that exude a mysterious, ghostly and dead-sexy vibe — like the aforementioned actress. Be sure to check out the amazingly outfitted little theater in the gallery. It screens a short movie that reinforces the work on display and even amplifies that jazzy, flickery quality Malone's paintings naturally embody. Through December 19. 1117 East Fwy., 713-223-8346. — TS